Lamére glared with unashamed hatred, "So then you dishonour your Soul-Sword by selling it to anyone who would have it? You're not a man at all, are you?" she practically hisses in her annoyance, "Do the men on the dry land care so little for their souls that they would sell them again and again? Or is it just your sword you have no respect for?"

Raston strolls into the common room and looking around realizes that he probably should have hurried in earlier as it was filling up. Looking around until he found an empty seat he heads to the bar. "I'll have an ale if you please barmaid."
After getting his drink he goes and sits down at the empty seat that he saw earlier and leans in to the nearest person and says "The conversation seems a little tense, what is the current problem?"

"...You haven't been on land very long, have you? People will trade anything for everything around here."

He waves his hand absently and pauses, remembering some of the demon cults that spring up from time to time. Now they were some class-acts: they worked in soul trade, sure, but usually it was your soul they were trading, not theirs. Then it settles in that his manhood has been questioned. He lowers his head and rises from the table, slowly.

"You question my manhood, Lady Lamére?"

In one smooth and fluid move, Damaris stands tall with one leg astride the seat of his chair, knee crooked like a sailor. Chest raised, stomach sucked in, left fist struck against left hip. His righthand index finger lifted defiantly, arm straight as an arrow pointed to the sky. Well, the ceiling, anyway. He shouts from his chest:

"I am DAMARIS PALES, as young and virile as they come! Mine is the blade that shall pierce the heavens! I meet all challenges, martial or menial, mild or menacing! I call no man, woman, child, dragon, or lich 'liege!'"

He points to the mermaid, eyes full of passion.

"I draw my blade in only a single circumstance: to cut down that which threatens innocent lives. Is there dishonor in that, m'lady? Is it dishonorable to take payment for such an action? Then I'd gladly give it away! What need for such a thing if evil may threaten the weak?"

The ronin makes a wide swing for his ale and downs the rest of it in a single gulp, slamming the flagon on the table. A few moments of silence follow, then a burp to ruin all of the bravado and drama.

"Ah, as deaf as you are brash. I did not bring your manhood into question, but your value of your soul and your soul-sword," she says, not even looking up at the man as she slides another piece of shark over her lips. As she swallows it she says "It is dishonorable to sell your sword. A sword-saint draws his blade to defend his honour or the honour of others. Payment should be for your services, not your sword. I would not be surprised if your True Sword abandoned you in your time of need. You're nothing more than a barbarian. You need not sell your soul to defend the weak."

Clearly and utterly rebuffed, the ronin maintains his posture. Here he was, far from home, discussing semantics with a mermaid! He wondered why the elves rarely left Everfold--life is so interesting outside of that cramped forest!

"It would appear... that I have more to learn. I beg your pardon, and am open to your wisdom, Lady Lamére."

He removes himself from his stalwart posture and kneels on one knee before the mermaid, right hand folded into a fist and pressed against his forehead.

"Please, just Lamére," she says, cringing at being called Lady again. Peerage must be different on land. She shook her head as she slipped another piece of the fish over her lips and gently chewed on it. Finally finished with her steak she slid down from her chair and began to meditate. After a minute a faint aura appears around her as she takes on a vaguely wolf-shaped form. She looked to the two at her table, "I was just stopping in here on my way to fulfill a quest I saw advertised. You two are welcome to follow me," she says, before looking to the room as a whole, "I'd be happy to have three more people with us."

Watching the two's heated arguements was quite something. Each spoke and defended what they held true only to end in Damaris folding to the seemingly better words of the woman. During all of this, Tanvas had gone and drank through another ale, still bored but amused by the two, remembering to remain silence when a woman was talking unless she really had the slightest clue. That was how it was within his upbring the caravan master's wife usually doing all of the directing and advisements. Lamere move off her chair and began to do something. And while his eyes followed, interested, his mind was still scattered. A low glow and some unearthly movements later, the mermaid was now a... wolf. That was quite something he had to admit.

It was then that Lam had said something that made him adjust his position. A quest. Damaris physically reacted aswell. For those like them there was adventure to be had and coin to be made with such things as quests and that was enough to engage them to do anything. His face brighten as the two were given free way to join the mermaid. Before he could turn to Damaris, he was already on it. He returned his grin replacing the once plain boredom. "You bet your ass I am!" He gave a cheer within a laugh. It was quite the team they had. A mermaid-wolf, Tanvas still trying to figure that out, an apparent soul-broken swordsman, and him, a walking brute with a big sword. No matter, Tanvas liked the sound of it.